Hachiman Hikigaya, a student in Soubu High School, is a cynical loner due to his traumatic past experiences in his social life. This eventually led to him developing a set of "dead fish eyes" and a twisted personality similar to that of a petty criminal. Believing that the concept of youth is a lie made up by youngsters who face their failures in denial, he turns in an essay that criticizes this exact mentality of youths. Irritated by the submission, his homeroom teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, forc